Unconventional Cambridge

Cambridge, Massachusetts, is probably the world’s foremost seat of learning. Named after the almost equally illustrious English university city, its two universities, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are usually ranked in the top five in the world.

Not bad for a city of just 100,000 residents. But then this is a city that has very little to offer visitors apart from the splendour and grandeur of its tertiary educational establishments.

It is also only a stone’s throw from the great city of Boston. Indeed, the cities are only divided by the Charles River, and Cambridge is often seen, falsely, as little more than a suburb of Boston. Cambridge is pretty, a world apart from the common conception of the urban United States, of concrete jungles and skyscrapers forests.

Instead, it is filled with red-bricked buildings and cobbled pavements. The sprinkling of trees adds a touch of personality, giving Cambridge its distinct small-town, almost oversized-village feel. Harvard and its predictably impressive facilities represent the quintessential, if the most clichéd representation of Cambridge. Structures such as Dunster House – a hall of residence – and the memorial church are two of the most prominent features of the city, rising in elegance as symbols of the university’s wealth but without any unnecessary pretentiousness.

Being a student town, of course, gives Cambridge a deeper personality than just smart streets. Shops and restaurants are generally cheap but excellent quality, and even some of those of a less upmarket nature have attained cult-like status. A friend, a student at Harvard, took me to one such establishment, Pinocchio’s. Of dubious cleanliness, it is fascinatingly popular with students. I went with said friend to discover that there was no meat left - they had run out for the evening – yet there was still a lengthy queue behind me, indicating there was more to this place’s appeal than top nosh. The pizza was greasy and staff were hassled – but it didn’t matter. I almost felt like a proper Harvard student.

Up until twenty years ago, Boston was a city with a high crime rate, and its history and culture were clouded by the pervasive threat of danger. But the city I encountered as I took the subway – 10 minutes from Harvard Square to downtown Boston – bore little resemblance to its former self. Clean, green, modern and friendly, Boston was my favourite city on my tour of the east coast.

Admittedly, Boston probably tries a little too hard to play up its historical appeal, through the incessant promotions of attractions such as its old town hall and city centre cemeteries, with their gravestones of great revolutionary and original settler heroes. Unfortunately, this emphasis on the historical tourism seems somewhat false. Indeed, its best historical attraction for me was the superb JFK Library and Museum.

More appealing for an authentic taste of Boston – literally – is America’s oldest restaurant, the Union Oyster House (left), which began serving food 185 years ago. The favourite restaurant of Boston’s favourite son President John F. Kennedy, it unsurprisingly focuses on seafood, the standard fare throughout New England. This was something of a hindrance to me, being allergic aux fruits de mer. Even so, the experience of eating in its old-fashioned booths, of watching oysters being shelled on the other side of the bar we drank at, and, perhaps most importantly, it being full of locals, meant it oozed with character.

Being something of a sports aficionado, though, my favourite experience in Boston was a visit to Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, one of the most historically successful baseball teams in the United States. Its rickety wooden benches and randomly shaped stands host 30,000 raucous but friendly Bostonians three times a week during the summer months – it has sold out every home game for the last nine years. I watched two matches, a win and a loss, but the experience was incredible. I was instantly captured by the atmosphere as much as the game, and I have followed the Red Sox closely ever since.

That is what Boston and its near neighbour Cambridge did. They made me feel at home, sucking me in with their relaxed spirit and friendly attitude. The wide variety of attractions further underlined my new-found love for this area of coastal Massachusetts, and there is little reason why others won’t be similarly enticed by the great university city and its diverse big brother.

This was originally published at Textbook Travels.